Prior to 1st Quarter

Final Transcripts: Verification of degree

Students are required to submit final official transcripts. Students may refer to their ‘Graduate Admission Checklist’ available in MyUCLA to confirm if they have already submitted final official transcripts.

Documents may be mailed to the following address or dropped off in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Affairs Office (Boelter Hall 5732-A) when you arrive on campus.

UCLA
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Attn: Admission
420 Westwood Plaza
Room 5732 Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1593

International students please visit the Graduate Division Required Academic Records website to determine all academic records that are required.

Students must submit final academic records before the first day of class for their first term of enrollment.

Completion of prerequisites

Students will communicate with their faculty advisor to determine deficiencies and outline a plan to take preparatory courses, if needed. Students are eligible to fulfill preparatory course requirements prior to the start of their graduate program at UCLA.

Registration

Please view the Registrar’s Academic Calendar to view important dates regarding registration including when Schedule of Classes is available, when enrollment opens, and registration fee deadlines.

Registration consists of paying fees and enrolling in classes. Registration fees and other University charges are paid through BruinBill. BruinBill is an electronic bill (eBill) that students view in MyUCLA. Enrollment in classes is completed via MyUCLA. Students must complete both processes by the established deadlines to be officially registered and enrolled for the term.

Please view the Ph.D. Program of Study  to assist with registration. In addition, Ph.D. students who do not hold already hold a M.S. degree should view the M.S. Program of Study to plan their first year of Ph.D. enrollment. Ph.D. students who already hold a M.S. should contact their faculty advisor to discuss their registration.

What are PTE #’s? Permission to Enroll (PTE) numbers are required for certain courses. You will typically need a PTE # if you are a graduate student attempting to register for an undergraduate course or a Civil Engineering major attempting to register for a non-Civil Engineering course. Instructors may distribute PTE #s during the summer or may choose to wait until the first week of class to distribute. If you need a PTE #, you may contact the instructor of the course or show up to class during Week 1.

Graduate students are responsible for registering (paying fees), enrolling (enrolling in specific courses for a specific number of units and a grading basis), and making changes in registration and enrollment each term by the Graduate Council-approved deadlines posted in the Registrar’s calendar in the online Schedule of Classes. Unless granted a formal leave of absence, graduate students are expected to register every term, including the term in which their degree or certificate is to be awarded.

Writing Requirement/ESLPE (International Students)

All international students are required to complete the ESLPE unless they meet one of the exemption criteria below. You were notified as part of your admission offer from the university if you are required to take the ESLPE.

If you are required to take the ESLPE you should do so prior to or during your 1st quarter. 
The results of the exam may require you to complete up to 2 quarters of ESL course enrollment. ESL courses cannot be completed concurrently.

There are 3 potential results of the exam: 
1) Pass/Exempt score: You have fulfilled the ESL Writing Requirement; no further action required.
2) Placement into ESL 300: This means you are required to take ESL 300 and ESL 301 in order to graduate.
3) Placement into ESL 301: This means you are required to take ESL 301 in order to graduate.

If you are placed into an ESL course you complete this requirement as soon as possible.
Students who do not complete the English Language Requirement will not be eligible to graduate. Students are not allowed to retake the ESLPE exam. The ESL Writing Requirement pertains to academic writing only, not speaking or fluency, and has no bearing on whether a student is permitted to work as a TA.

Registration
When registration is available you may complete registration on the ESLPE website: http://wp.ucla.edu/index.php/placement-exam-schedule/eslpe

Writing Requirement Exemptions
1. Taking the ESLPE and receiving a pass/exempt score.
2. Entering UCLA with a score of 100 or above on the TOEFL iBT or at least a 7.5 overall band score on the IELTS exam.
3. Holding a bachelor’s degree or higher from a university located in the U.S. or another country in which English is the primary language.

If you were told you are required to take the ESLPE, but you meet exemption #2 or #3 listed above please contact the Writing Programs office.

TOP Exam (International Students)

Students who plan to work as a Teaching Assistant (TA) at UCLA and are non-US citizens must pass the TOP before working as a TA in any department at UCLA. All non-citizens are considered international students. This includes permanent residents.

Exemptions from the TOP are listed below:

• You are a U.S. citizen or hold a Bachelor’s degree from a U.S. institution, you are automatically exempt from taking the test; you do not need to take any further action. Holding a Master’s degree from a U.S. institution does not qualify for an exemption.
• No alternatives to TOP are accepted. Scores on any other language proficiency exams may not be used as a replacement for the TOP (e.g., SPEAK, TSE, TOEFL, ESLPE).
• If you do not plan to work as a TA at UCLA, you do not need to take the TOP. Other positions (e.g., Reader, Special Reader, GSR) do not require the TOP.

When the TOP schedule is available it will be posted on the following website: http://oid.ucla.edu/training/top

Step 1

Ph.D. Program of Study

Form: Complete Ph.D. Program of Study

Deadline: Varies. If student started as M.S. student and intends to apply to stay for Ph.D. the student should submit the form attached to the Intent to Advance to Ph.D. form. If student started as Ph.D. student and is earning a M.S. during their first year the student student should submit at the beginning of their 2nd year. If student started as Ph.D. student and already has a M.S. and is will begin minor coursework during first year, student should submit 2nd week of 2nd quarter of enrollment.

Signatures to be obtained by student: Faculty Advisor

Signatures to be obtained by SAO: SAO, Departmental Graduate Advisor

Where to submit: mimi@seas.ucla.edu, Boelter Hall 5732-A, or Mimi’s mailbox located in BH 5732

Notes: An accurate and current Ph.D. Program of Study must be on file prior to taking the Oral Qualifying Exam. Petitions and transcripts pertinent to the doctoral program should be attached to the Ph.D. Program of Study form.

Obtaining a M.S. Degree

Students interested in earning a M.S. degree during their Ph.D. program should consult the M.S. Student Procedures, submit all required documents, and consult with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Students Affairs Officer.

Step 2

Ph.D. Preliminary Exam

After mastering the body of knowledge defined in the major field, the student takes a written preliminary examination in the major field. The preliminary examination should be completed within the first two years of full-time enrollment in the Ph.D. program. Students may not take an examination more than twice. Students should contact their faculty advisor to discuss when the Preliminary Exam will be administered. Results of the Preliminary Exam must be reported to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Affairs Officer.

Environmental Engineering; Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering 

General Guidelines:

• Unless otherwise arranged, the primary exam is held in the summer on the first Friday after the end of the Spring Quarter. A second exam date is offered as-needed on the first Friday after the end of Fall Quarter.
• Each student’s exam list needs to be approved by their PhD advisor 4 weeks prior to the scheduled exam.
• If a student does not pass the exam, they may be allowed to re-take the exam focusing just on the topic area(s) for which their answers to the first exam question(s) did not receive a passing grade. Those scores will replace the original scores in order to attempt to bring up their overall score to the passing level.
• If a persuasive case can be made by the student (with support of the advisor), a different course could be used to replace one of the originals for the re-take exam.

Guidelines for Students:

• Students must take 5 questions across 5 courses of their choosing to be approved by their advisor and field chairs. No more than one 100-level course may be included.
• Students are allowed to solicit one exam question from courses outside the department. In some special cases, including cases where a sufficient number of courses are not offered within the department, students may be allowed to take additional exam questions outside the department following approval from their advisor and field chairs.
• The exam is open notes/open book.
• Computers/phones are not allowed on the exam.
• Students should bring a calculator to the exam.

Geotechnical Engineering 

The geotechnical M.S. comprehensive exam/Ph.D. preliminary written exam is held annually on Friday of finals week of the Spring quarter. This exam, if passed successfully, is the final requirement for a non-thesis M.S. degree and qualifies a Ph.D. candidate to continue in the Ph.D. program.

The format of the exam will be as follows:

Morning (3 hrs):  Closed book portion of exam testing fundamental concepts of geotechnical engineering (only writing utensil and calculator allowed). There will be five questions and this portion of the exam is passed if four individual questions are passed. Passing generally requires a minimum score of 70% on the question.

Afternoon (4 hrs): Open book portion of the exam containing approximately 8 problems. Problems will cover a broad range of topics associated with CEE geotechnical and closely related graduate courses offered during the preceding academic year. Individual problems may draw from concepts that have been covered in multiple courses. Students answer as many problems as they wish. There is no need to answer every question. Students may use any reference materials. Must pass 4 problems to pass this section of the exam.

The exam is passed successfully if the morning and afternoon sections are passed. The exam is administered by the ladder faculty in Geotechnical Engineering (Brandenberg and Stewart).

If a re-take of the exam is needed, this is coordinated with the student’s advisor. Re-takes may be offered as either oral or written exams.

Civil Engineering Materials 

1) Preliminary exam consists of 30-questions and 30-minutes to answer them (student is offered a sheet of paper, or allowed to answer orally; as they’d prefer).

2) Questions encompass the B.S.-level general curriculum in Civil/Materials Science/Chemical Engineering as related to the student’s training, and other questions drawn from M.S./Ph.D. level coursework that the student has fulfilled.

3) Passing criteria: Ph.D- 21/30 questions

4) Questions are composed by a minimum of 2 faculty members from Civil Engineering Materials.

5) Exam is administered jointly by a minimum of 2 faculty members from Civil Engineering Materials.

6) If the student fails they have to re-take the whole exam. We don’t offer “piece-meal” re-testing.

7) Student coordinates with their advisor to set a date for the exam, and then the advisor/field-chair communicates the exam result to SAO.

Structural/Earthquake Engineering; Structural Mechanics

Transportation Engineering 

The students will need to pass a four-section open-book exam in the following four areas with a minimum score of 70.   The total length of the exam is 8 hours, offered in a single day.  The exam will be offered twice a year at the end of the Fall and spring quarters. Additional offerings are possible at the end of the Winter and Summer quarters and the candidates need to discuss the request with the transportation program director two months in advance.

1. Transportation systems analysis or travel behavior analysis
2. Traffic operations and control
3. Intelligent transportation systems
4. One other topic selected by the student and PhD advisor (or transportation program director) based on the student research focus from the list below: transportation data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Civil Engineering, one of the transportation planning courses (UP251, UP254, UP255, UP256 UP258)

Students should contact their faculty advisor to schedule taking the Preliminary Exam.

Step 3

Annual Presentation Requirement

After completing the Written Preliminary Examination and/or starting the second year of the PhD program, all PhD students are required to make a public presentation once per year (Summer through Spring) each year of the program. The presentation may be delivered to various audiences (research group, Civil and Environmental Engineering department, conference) and must be publicized to the Civil and Environmental Engineering department in advance of the presentation date. Students will provide documentation of presentations annually to the Student Affairs Office. The Qualifying Oral Exam (Prospectus), Final Oral Exam (Defense), and poster presentations are eligible to fulfill the Ph.D. Annual Presentation Requirement.

Form: Complete Ph.D. Annual Presentation form

Deadline: Form must be submitted no later than two weeks after presentation. Students must submit this form each year by the end of the Spring quarter. The year starts in Summer and proceeds through the following Spring. The year starts again in Summer.

Signatures to be obtained by student: Faculty Advisor and Personal

Where to submit: mimi@seas.ucla.edu, Boelter Hall 5732-A, or Mimi’s mailbox located in BH 5732.

Submission Notes: If submitting form with an advisor email in lieu of a wet signature: (a) Electronically, attach the completed form and advisor email as one PDF, (b) Physical form, attach the printed advisor email to the form.
Separate materials (e.g. physical form submitted with separate advisor email forwarded) will not be accepted.

Step 4

Complete Remaining Coursework

After passing the preliminary examination and substantially completing all minor field coursework, the student is eligible to take the University Oral Qualifying Examination (Prospectus).

Submit Revised Ph.D. Program of Study (if needed)

If any information has changed from the original submission of the Ph.D. Program of Study, students must submit a revised Ph.D. Program of Study.

Form: Complete Ph.D. Program of Study form

Deadline: Prior to completing Oral Qualifying Exam

Signatures to be obtained by student: Faculty Advisor

Signatures to be obtained by SAO: SAO, Departmental Graduate Advisor

Where to submit: mimi@seas.ucla.edu, Boelter Hall 5732-A, or Mimi’s mailbox located in BH 5732

Notes: Petitions and transcripts pertinent to the doctoral program should be attached to the Program of Study form.

Step 5

Nominate Doctoral Committee

Students nominate a doctoral committee prior to taking the University Oral Qualifying Examination. The doctoral committee consists of a minimum of four members. Students must read the Doctoral Committee Regulations outlined in the Standards & Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA handbook (starting on page 11). Additional department requirements for doctoral committees may be found on the UCLA Graduate Education website.

Form: Nomination of Doctoral Committee

Deadline: Please leave ample time (at least 3 weeks) for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Affairs Officer and the Graduate Division to process the form. The Graduate Division must approve the committee prior to taking the Oral Qualifying Exam.

Signatures to be obtained by student: None

Signatures to be obtained by SAO: Department Graduate Advisor

Where to submit: mimi@seas.ucla.edu, Boelter Hall 5732-A, or Mimi’s mailbox located in BH 5732

Notes: Doctoral Committee forms will be reviewed by the Associate Dean of the Graduate Division on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, the student should make sure that such a petition and the committee nomination are submitted many weeks in advance of the anticipated date of the University oral qualifying examination, in particular because there is no guarantee that they will be approved, which means that an alternative committee may need to be nominated later if the petition is not approved.

Step 6

Oral Qualifying Exam (Prospectus)

The nature and content of the Oral Qualifying Exam are at the discretion of the doctoral committee but ordinarily include a broad inquiry into the student’s preparation for research. The doctoral committee also reviews the prospectus of the dissertation at the oral qualifying examination. Students must confirm with their committee the expectations of deliverables for the Prospectus such as a written document and oral presentation.

All members of your committee must be present during the entire exam.

Policy changes:

AY 2023-24

The Council approved a temporary policy change for AY 2023-24 to allow department/IDPs chairs or authorized designees to approve exception requests for the remote participation of the student and more than one committee member in oral qualifying examinations or final defenses.

To request remote participation for yourself &/or committee members, please complete the steps below:

1. Email C&EE Chair, Ertugrul Taciroglu (etacir@g.ucla.edu) at least 2 weeks before your scheduled exam. (Please be sure to copy C&EE SAO, Mimi Baik (mimi@seas.ucla.edu) to the email as well) In the email, include

“Dear Chair Taciroglu,

I am requesting remote participation for my oral qualifying exam with the details listed below. Please let me know if you approve of my request. Thank you.

– Name:

– UID:

– Email Address:

– Exam Date:

– Name of individuals remote participants:

– Reason for remote participation: (COVID 19, Medical, Committee member(s)/student located off campus and cannot commute to UCLA, Financial Hardship, Other- explain)

– Please explain why the committee member(s)/student will be participating remotely. Describe the circumstances in detail. “

All members of your committee must be present during the entire exam.  See the Standards & Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA handbook (starting page 21) for further details.

A student is advanced to candidacy by the Graduate Division when the report on the University oral qualifying examination is received. The student is automatically billed for the doctoral advancement to candidacy fee at the time advancement occurs.

The academic residency requirement for doctoral advancement to candidacy consists of four quarters of registration, three of which (ordinarily the last three) must be spent in continuous residence at UCLA.

Students must email the Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Affairs Officer (mimi@seas.ucla.edu) with the below information at least two weeks prior to the Oral Qualifying Exam.

Full Name:
UID:
Email:
Advisor:
Title of Prospectus:
Date of Qualifying Oral Exam:
Time of exam:
Location of exam:

The Student Affairs Officer will prepare the necessary committee paperwork for the day of the exam. The SAO will then email the exam paperwork to the committee members the day of the exam and expected to return exam materials to the SAO the same day.

Note: The prospectus exam is open only to the student and their committee members, so your exam will not be publicized. This rule is described in the Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA document on page 16.

To reserve room the Civil and Environmental Engineering conference room (Boelter Hall 4275) for your Qualifying Oral Exam, email CEEHelp@seas.ucla.edu with the following information:

Full Name:
Advisor:
Email Address:
Date & Time:

You may check the conference room calendar availability at: https://www.cee.ucla.edu/conference-room-reservations/

Last day to pass oral qualifying exam to request NRST reduction:

Step 7

Annual Committee Meeting Requirement

Students are required to meet with committee members once per year (Summer through Spring) after Advancement to Candidacy until graduation. Meetings may be one-on-one or as a group and members may participate remotely. Students will provide documentation of meetings annually to the Student Affairs Office.

Form: Annual Committee Meeting Form

Deadline: First year: The Oral Qualifying Exam (Prospectus) will fulfill the first year annual committee meeting requirement. No PhD Annual Committee Meeting form is required. Each year thereafter: Students must submit this form each year by the end of the Spring quarter. The year starts in Summer and proceeds through the following Spring. The year starts again in Summer. Final year: The Final Oral Exam (Defense) will fulfill the final year annual committee meeting requirement. No PhD Annual Committee Meeting form is required.

Signatures to be obtained by student: Committee Members, Committee Chair, Personal

Where to submit: mimi@seas.ucla.edu, Boelter Hall 5732-A, or Mimi’s mailbox located in BH 5732

Submission Notes: If student meets with committee members individually, student may submit one form per meeting or gather signatures throughout the year and submit by the end of the year. If submitting form with committee member email(s) in lieu of wet signature(s): (a) Electronically, attach the completed form and committee member emails as one PDF. (b) Physical form, attach the printed committee member emails to the form.
Separate materials (e.g. physical form submitted with committee member email(s) forwarded) will not be accepted.

Step 8

Reconstitute Doctoral Committee (if needed)

Recommendation for reconstitution of a doctoral committee is made jointly by the Graduate Advisor of the department and the chair of the doctoral committee, after consultation with the members of the committee who are in residence and the student. Reconstitution is approved by the dean of the Graduate Division, acting for the Graduate Council.

Form: Recommendation for Reconstitution of the Doctoral Committee

Deadline: Please leave ample time (at least 3 weeks) for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Affairs Officer and the Graduate Division to process the form.

Signatures to be obtained by student: Committee Members

Signatures to be obtained by SAO: Department Graduate Advisor

Where to submit: mimi@seas.ucla.edu, Boelter Hall 5732-A, or Mimi’s mailbox located in BH 5732

Notes: Students who submit forms with committees that do not meet university standards as outlined in the handbook will receive the form back which will significantly delay the doctoral committee nomination process.

Step 9

Attend Dissertation Workshop and Review Policies & Procedures

Graduate Division Dissertation Information

Dissertation Formatting and Filing Guide

View available dissertation workshops.

Step 10

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Step 11

File Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study. Students are encouraged to file as early in a quarter as possible.

Know the deadlines.

Read the handbook.

All requirements, including faculty signatures, must be met by the deadline. It is highly recommended that you do not wait until the last day to file your dissertation.

Helpful Hints:

1. Your committee members must log in to Go.Grad to sign off on your final oral exam and/or manuscript.

2. After completing your process, you can log back into the Graduate Division website to check the status of your committee approvals.
3. What counts as submitting by the deadline? How will the Graduate Division determine my filing date and whether I’ve met the deadline? All of the following must occur by the official deadline: a) All required committee members have signed off, b) Committee has certified you have passed the final oral exam, c)You submitted a final PDF via ProQuest, and d) You completed the online Graduate Division process. The last date that all of the items listed above is complete will be your filing date.

What is the interim deadline? The interim deadline is an extended deadline in which a student can use his/her current registration or filing fee status to file before the start of classes for the following quarter. For example, the Filing Deadline is December 9 and the End of the Interim Period is January 5. A student who successfully completes all degree requirements between December 10 and January 5 will not have to pay any further registration fees, but will earn a Winter degree instead of a Fall degree.

Consider Filing Fee: If students have completed all requirements for the degree except the filing of the thesis or dissertation and/or the final examination (doctoral final oral examination), they may be eligible to pay the Filing Fee (half the registration fee) instead of registering. Please visit the Graduate Division website for details.

Students must email mimi@seas.ucla.edu after they file their dissertation. Be sure to include UID, final dissertation title and confirmation that the dissertation was successfully filed.